Tuesday, 3 January 2017

Do you have influence over yourself?

I dragged myself out of bed this morning with some difficulty. The voice
from yesterday's inspirational podcast goaded me on. Don't you have any influence over yourself? If you don't have influence
over yourself, how are you going to achieve your goals?

My first goal was to persuade myself to get out of bed early after days
of holiday lie ins. I allowed myself five minutes to snooze before sleepily
grabbing my yoga mat and forcing my aching body through a few sun salutes. How
could I be thirty three and feel like ninety three?

Self-discipline, I thought hazily, you've got to retrain your brain.
This will be easier tomorrow.

Then I flopped onto my back and considered snoozing some more, except my
feet were too cold. Spanish houses are freezing. It's the stone floors.

After my half hearted work out I took a metallic tasting tea to my desk
and spent four hours rewriting one single chapter. Number 10 out of 54. At one point I put my head
in my hands and thought:

THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

But I persevered and that afternoon managed another four chapters
meaning I'm back on track to finishing my novel's rewrite this month.

In a way I think every day can hold the potential and optimism of New
Year's Day. Every day is a chance to give life your best shot. And maybe your dream is just to have more time to yourself. More
time to think about what it is you really want to do with your life.

My Dad always said he valued efforts over results. I didn't agree with
him until now. Yep, now I do think making a genuine effort is what counts. Every day.
Falling over and getting back up again. And again. And again.

I think we all have the power to do something
special with our lives. We just need to believe it and then influence ourselves
into acting on it.

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